2020 Festival

The Charleston Jazz Festival is a special time of year when jazz fans throughout the Southeast flock to Charleston to celebrate the Holy City’s rich jazz heritage and thriving jazz scene.

Save the date for the next Festival: January 23 – 26, 2020

January 24 – 27, 2019

The 5th Annual Charleston Jazz Festival presented performances by a wide variety of talented jazz artists. From legends of jazz to emerging artists, to Charleston’s most celebrated home-grown talent, artists of the Charleston Jazz Festival performed a wide range of styles including Swing, Salsa, Blues, Brazilian, the American Songbook and more.

January 27, 2019

Family Jazz Day

Video Gallery

2019

2018

2017

Testimonials

2018

“Each show during the festival was unique and dynamic. It brought the community together through a shared interest and it was just an overall good time!”

“I bought my mother tickets to see Nnenna Freelon on the first day of the Jazz Festival and we had a wonderful time! My mom grew up in New York and said the venue and the artists singing brought her back to when she was in her 20s listening to her favorite artists in the city. Had such a great time and it was amazing getting to share that experience with my mother!”

“Enjoyable entertainment at a reasonable price. Kenny G was amazing and his performance was one of the best I have ever heard.”

“Amazing performance! To see talented high school students and the School of Arts talent in one show is a treat! These students are our future in jazz! I was visualizing some of the students on an album cover some day! Great performance!”

2017

“We have been to each of the Charleston Jazz festivals and have not been disappointed with any performance. Having been born and raised in New Orleans, and practically weened on jazz, I am so delighted to have that same kind of mojo working here in Charleston.”

“The CJO was fantastic! Loved Charlton and the whole orchestra who were totally engaged. Manhattan Transfer and Take 6 were outstanding. What a great evening!”

‘The festival does a great job of working to ‘keep jazz alive’ and also the tie-in to educational opportunities for youth is a good one. Bravo!

“The music was outstanding – both the instrumentals and vocals. World class talent in great venue and reasonable prices.”

“Performance was outstanding. Charlton Singleton was great when talking about the history of jazz in Charleston.”

2016

“The Saturday night program was THE BEST JAZZ we’ve heard since the 50s and 60s! Brava AND Bravo!”